By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University women's track and field team is ranked #4 in the West Region of NCAA Division III according to this week's rankings released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) leads the West Region women's rankings with 655.75 points. George Fox University is ranked #2 ranking at 481.83, while Whitworth University is #3 at 444.59. Willamette is listed at #4 with 377.15 points and Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) follows at #5 with 249.13 points.

GFU, Whitworth and Willamette are three of the five Northwest Conference teams included this week in the women's West Region rankings. Also receiving recognition are Linfield College at #7 with 188.01 points and Pacific Lutheran University at #10 with 143.34 points. Linfield moved up two spots from #9 last week.

Sitting atop the West Region men's rankings is Claremont-Mudd-Scripps with 487.08 points. Whitworth holds the #2 ranking at 461.44. George Fox advanced one position to #3 at 317.28 and Occidental College (Calif.) dropped one spot to #4 at 277.01. University of Redlands (Calif.) remained #5 at 261.63.

In the women's national rankings, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse continue is still the #1 team with 220.83 points. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) is ranked #2 at 113.83 and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is #3 at 106.35. The #4 team is Illinois Wesleyan at 103.63. Massachusetts Institute of Technology is listed at #5 with 102.08 points.

The West Region is represented in the women's rankings by CMS at #2, California Lutheran University at #13 and George Fox at #14.

Team rankings are determined by assigning points to athletes ranked high on the national performance lists. Each team's score is the sum of their athletes point totals.

UW-La Crosse holds the #1 ranking for NCAA Division III men's teams with 208.97 points. UW-Eau Claire is listed at #2 with 192.69 point and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is #3 with 137.90 points. UW-Eau Claire and UW-Whitewater switched places from a week ago.

Monmouth College (Illinois) is the #4-ranked men's team at 107.28. Augustana College (Illinois) is #5 at 106.67.

West Region teams in the men's rankings are Whitworth at #9, University of Redlands at #24 and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at #25.

Five athletes on the Willamette women's track and field team are ranked in the top 20 of this week's NCAA Division III national performance list. Three Bearcats are ranked in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Michaela Freeby (Sr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) has the top time in Division III this season in the steeplechase at 10:30.09. The time, which is her personal record, was set at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival on April 3. Freeby won the NWC steeplechase title for the third time this past weekend.

Taylor Ostrander (Jr., Kenai, AK/Kenai Central HS) ranked #11 in the steeplechase with a time of 10:52.24 at the SFSU Distance Carnival. Hannah Bressler (Jr., Oak Harbor, WA/Oak Harbor HS) is #17 on the strength of her top time of 10:59.31, set at the Willamette vs. Corban Dual on March 19.

In the 1,500-meter run, Olivia Mancl (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) is ranked #13 at 4:34.71. She registered her career-best time at the Willamette Invitational on March 28. Mancl took first place in the 1,500 at the NWC Championships on April 25.

Meka Townsend (Jr., Okanogan, WA/Okanogan HS) is now ranked #20 in the javelin throw at 133' 6". She earned her top distance of the season this past weekend while placing third at the NWC Championships. She moved up two spots on the national performance list.

At the end of the regular season, the top 22 athletes in each women's event will qualify for the 2015 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The NCAA Championships will be held May 21-23 at Merrick-Pinkard Track & Field Complex in Canton, N.Y.